


these hands do not stop seeking

by BananaStrings



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, Hope, Interlude, M/M, Vulnerability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:49:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29822427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BananaStrings/pseuds/BananaStrings
Summary: "All these things—porcelain, books...all so goddamn fragile. The energy it must take to maintain it all."- Charles Vane's insight into Captain Flint's life, inXXVI.
Relationships: Captain Flint | James McGraw/Charles Vane
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	these hands do not stop seeking

"You’re watching me." 

"You’re showing off." 

They were alone, Charles bathing himself with a cloth, groaning and sighing at the warm water. James watched to amuse himself. He knew how Charles used his appearance, his wiry, muscled frame, compact and lean like a natural predator. Vane knew it lulled people into submission with its visible power. No one wanted to challenge him. Vane counted on that instinct, but between the two of them, Flint couldn’t imagine Charles’ intent. They had no quarrel at present. No gain to seek. 

Yet, still Charles pressed, stripped himself bare now, and James struggled not turn away, even as the water gleamed in droplets in his pubic hair and shined from the slightly swelled member lying heavily between his thighs. When Vane moved to the bed and lay on his back, pulling one leg bent, it was clearly an invitation. A shocking one, for all Charles’ showing off had been expected, this was not at all. 

Flint's eyes had dropped down reflexively, and he knew it was all the tell that Vane would need to read him. There was no point trying to disguise that he was affected. He turned his face away now, let himself wonder for a moment at himself. He had not shared sexual affection with a man, since he'd lost Thomas. Had not wanted to. All opportunities had repulsed instead of attracted him. This was the first time he’d felt any such desire. And it worried him, he did not know if his body remembered the skills of self-control after so many years of not needing to practice those skills. If his un-willed gaze at Charles was any indication, practice was now sorely needed. 

He rose and approached the bed. He stared down at Vane who stared back up at him. Charles dropped his bent knee out a little wider. James didn’t have to ask what he was offering. One man did not spread his knees for another without knowing what he was about. James reached down, touched the inside of Charles' knee with light pressure. A clear request to wait, and then searched out a pot of cooking grease. 

Vane had not moved, when he returned. He watched Flint now, as he removed his clothing. He knelt on the bed between Charles' legs and let Charles look. Flint was aroused. Charles seemed fascinated by that. James was amused for a moment again. Self-control had nothing to do with suppression or denial. It had everything to do with self-mastery—to act with clarity, decisiveness, without regret. 

Vane grew aroused in front of him, but made no move to touch himself or push his hips upward, so Flint only took what was offered. With slippery fingers he circled and coaxed and opened and listened carefully to Charles’ breathing, since he had gone unusually quiet. Well, maybe he was usually quiet in this, James didn’t know. They both breathed deeply in concentration, as Flint moved up to four fingers, sliding easily now, fast and deep and causing Vane's stomach muscles to jump a little with each push. 

He stopped, when Charles grabbed his wrist. 

"Now," Vane said, though his tone was more akin to request than demand. 

As well as he’d been taking four fingers, he was still tight as a knot around them. The tapered spear of fingers was not like the bluntness of a cock. There was no relief of it, no narrowed part to give a man a chance to inhale easily. Thomas had always had the breath pushed in and out of him by the movement they made together. And God, he’d not thought of that sound in so very long. 

Yet it came to Flint's mind fresh, and instead of fearful it was lightening. Like a door long-sealed had been cracked open and stale air replaced with clean. He did not feel it a danger, as he’d feared it would be. But something friendlier. It made his hands gentle on Vane's thighs, as he pushed his legs back. Made him slow and patient in the pressure of his hips. And, he found he was not the one provoked to loss of control in this.

Charles started to laugh, lying on his back, with his legs spread, and Flint deep within him. And, James recognized it, the nervousness, the sensitivity, the surprise. It had been some time and Vane's memories less friendly. As much as Flint was testing his ability to retain his self-control, Vane was testing him with even greater weight. Or perhaps not testing at all, perhaps hoping, taking a leap of faith that Flint was in control of himself enough to have a man beneath him as vulnerable as a man could be and not be moved to take advantage. So self-possessed as Flint had always appeared to be. 

And, gratefully, he was. James was shocked now that this was the man to find it, the essential nature of him. Even thoughtless in arousal, James was a naturally careful man. Care existed in the marrow of him, no way to remove it. In love, in rage, in despair, with a new name, in a new world, under a new flag, his every action was deliberate, he could at no point escape himself. It was a pleasure to feel it once again, in this, because he could see Charles as clearly as Charles could see him. 

This had all been of Charles' desire, his seeking—he sought a chance to feel. Flint could finally see what Vane's fanatical quest against slavers stemmed from. It was not vengeance against his own captors; he valued freedom for a reason. There was a surprising relief in Charles, as they stared at one another, as he eased back onto the bed, lazy and receptive again. Flint felt pride of self for the first time in a long time, knowing that he was not the man to destroy Charles' unspoken hope for safety in this world.


End file.
